Helicopter Tours - New Zealand

1.
Posted byPurdy(Travel Guru 3546 posts) 11y
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Anyone got any recommendations? We were hoping do do a heli tour in South Island perhaps from Christchurch or Queenstown - perhaps see some of the mountain ranges or glaciers?

Anyone recommend one or reputable tour companies? We know they are costly and could cost approx £150-200 for an hour trip!

Heather

2.
Posted bySander(Moderator 5163 posts) 11y
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I can't recommend companies, as either the weather or the money was always a problem for me and so this is one of the things I'll yet have to come back to New Zealand for. But as for locations - there's really only one choice - around Mt. Cook and the glaciers.There's four take of point for helicopter tours doing that region:Glentanner Park (near Mt. Cook village).Lake Tekapo.Fox Glacier.Franz Josef Glacier.

I'd say: use the first one of these you pass where the weather's good enough to do the trip and get decent views.

I know there's also helicopter flights from Milford Sound back to Queenstown (these are heavily advertised in the daytrip buses there), and I think there's also some around the Marlborough Sounds, but having seen the scenery, I really can't imagine these tours being even remotely as good (other than perhaps in the dead of winter) as those of Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps.

3.
Posted bysamsara_(Travel Guru 5353 posts) 11y
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Hi Purdy,

I dealt with this company during the week to book a helicopter ride over the Franz Josef Glaciar and found them really helpful